Firefighters Rescue Autistic Girl from Lake Michigan Ice

A girl with autism was rescued from Lake Michigan after walking down an embankment without wearing any shoes and onto the ice near Montrose Harbor Sunday morning.

The 13-year-old girl’s mother called for help about 10:45 a.m. from the 4200 block of North Lake Shore Drive, where the girl had broken away from her mother, jumped a fence and walked onto the ice near Montrose Harbor, Fire Media Affairs Chief Verdi Allen said.

When rescue crews reached her out on the ice, the girl, who has autism, was not wearing shoes, and she tried to fight off firefighters who carried her back to land, Allen said.

She was suffering from hypothermia and was taken to Presence Saint Joseph Hospital in fair condition, authorities said.